Meatworks Using Biogas To Power Plant

A meatworks factory in Australia is helping the environment and saving money by using its own wastewater to provide power to its plant.

The Oakey Meatworks in Darling Downs, Queensland, is taking the water that would otherwise be pumped into ponds outside and adding bacteria to it. This transforms the waste into biogas, which can then be used to supply energy to the site.

ABC News reported associate professor Bernadette McCabe from the University of Southern Queensland as saying: “[It is] a biological process which turns organic waste into biogas and then the methane-rich gas is then used to supplement gas and boilers.”

She added that biogas technology is still in its infancy in Australia, which is why the university has given $300,000 (£169,774) of state funding to initiate the process at Oakey Meatworks.

“We’re helping industries assess the economic feasibility of biogas to help them save money and manage their waste,” the researcher stated.

The project was launched in 2015, and manager of Oakey Meatworks Pat Gleeson has said it has been successful so far.

This site is being used as an example for biogas production at meatworks premises around the country, and the Queensland government is so serious about supporting biogas production projects that it has committed $1.2 million in projects to encourage energy saving on a large scale.

The biogas that is produced from these sites could potentially be used for a number of things, including supplying electricity and providing fuel for vehicles if purified even further.

For more news on emergency relief vents for your biogas plant, take a look at Motherwell Tank Protection’s information by clicking here.